Ahhh Italy! What a wonderful
adventure. Italy, a boot shaped land whose eastern coast,
is lined with a set of mountain ranges that make this part
of Italy a very hilly place! Experiencing Italy's unique
history, landscape and culture was facinating! The
Pryamid Atlantic Art Center of Sliver Spring, Md.
sponsored this study tour organized and led by Lynn Sures
in cooperation with the Museo
Della Carta E Della Filigrana in
Fabriano Italy a beautiful city filled with history. While
there I joined a small group of 5 artists interested in studing
Fabriano's traditions of paper making, book binding, and
intaglio etching. We heard lectures created hand made leather
bound books, hand made paper and marblized paper. We toured
the medieval towns of Gubbio, Assisi, Urbino, and Sirolo
Beach on the Adriatic Sea ! Afterwards I went on my own to Firenze
(Florence)and here is a taste. Italy's is a landscape
of beautiful vistas the local wine and food were a taste
feast for the eyes and palette! Each thumbnail to right unfolds
a different leg of my journey. So check them out!

What
an great 2007 "October Surprize" to be one of 15
artists selected to be in residence at the Blue Mountin Center
(BMC) retreat for writers, artists, and composers! Located
in the Adirondack Mountains of New York State, BMC is a wonderful
place to work. It is situated on the lovely Eagle Lake. The
month long residency afforded me the opportunity to continue
working on new ideas for Steal Away, the artist book I completed
in 2006. (Check out my Steal away to freedom adventure below.)
Take a look my Photo Journal and
feel the spirit of the BMC vistas and environs that inspired
me!

In the winter of 2007, Set
Theory was mounted at the spacious, airy University
of Arkansas Little Rock (UALR) Art Gallery. The 33 works
in Set Theory chronicled my artistic journey from 1988
thru 2006. It included sets of my favorite drawings, prints,
paintings and artist books I created on on paper, wood
or canvas and were shaped by the use of vibrant colors,
random mark making including numbers, and visualizations
personal memories, the sacred in art and expressive/geometric
abstraction!

This Adventure began in the spring of 2004
when I was reunited with a dear friend and fellow artist, AJ
Smith. We first met and printed together at Bob Blackburn's
Printmaking Workshop in NYC in the 1970's. AJ Smith has been
professor of art & printmaking at UALR for more than 20
years! Anyway, after doing a printmaking workshop for students
and meeting his collegues, I was invited to have the show by
gallery director, Brad Cusman. Having 3 years to prepare for
it was a lesson in how patience/time pays off. Hey, they published
a lovely full color brouchure with an essay by Elaine Helen
Jackson; they invited me to lecture and arranged a NPR radio
interview. The Set Theory show kicked off the art department's
and the University's celebration of the 50th anniversery of
the Little Rock 9 and the desegregation of Little Rock's Central
High School!

In the
spring of 2005 I travelled back and forth as the Teague
Blackburn Visiting Artist at the Experimental Printmaking
Institute (EPI). EPI is located in Lafayette
College in Easton PA. While there EPI's bookmaking and
printmaking staff assisted me in the
creation of Steal
Away, an accordion styled artist book of 11 abstract
etchings and 11 narrative collages. I created Steal Away's
imagery during the spring of 2005. Because I wanted this
to be an inter-disciplinary work, I produced an audio
CD based on first person narratives of former slaves
and period songs to accompany my art. Together the visual
images and audio intergrate to better illustrate the
struggle for liberty and the pursuit of happiness during
slavery times in the American South. As
a tease Listen to the introduction. See and Hear
more of Steal Away.

Wow,
it's the fall of 2005 and i'm on my way to North
Carolina A&T State University(NCAT) in Greensboro
North Carolina. I was commissioned to create a of Public
Art work for NCAT'S New Science Building's lobby! The
University produced this video to
document my work on "Autumn Passages", a
multi-paneled painting. The commission included a 2 month
residency and solo
exhibition of my Chance
and Other Muses show first shown in 2004
at the Wilmer Jennings Gallery at Kenkeleba
House, in NYC! NCAT
is one of America's Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
I spent 2 great months on campus creating Autumn Passages
and Getting to know the "Aggies" of NCAT.

Printing
Again!Last summer 2003 I created a wonderful
series of small dry point/mono-prints with good friend and
artist/printmaker-Margo Humphrey. This suite of prints is called
Visica Pises A to Z. We had lots of fun. Margo inspired me
to begin exploring mixed process printmaking. She created a
great working environment, and reignited my passion for printing
again! Click here and see what I mean...

Printing
with Kathy Caraccio
It was a wonderful experience working with Kathy Carracio. I
first learned viscosity/ intaglio printmaking from her when she
was a master printer and artist working at the historic Bob Blackburn
Printmaking Workshop in New York City. Click
to take a peek!

Kenya
In 2003 I had the good fortune to be invited to Kenya by the
U.S. Kenya Embassy and the Kuona Trust of Kenya to participate
in the First East African Women
Artists Workshop and Exhibition. While there and after
the two-week residency and exhibition opening, I gave a master
class in printmaking. and I took many videos of my experiences
while there so check the 5
quicktime movies you will find here!

Not An Ocean Between Us: Voices of Women from Africa and the African DisaporaDiggs Gallery Winston-Salem State University, Winston-Salem,
NC 5/30/06 - 3/17/07Holding Our Own: Selections from the Collectors Club of Washington, University of Md. 10/29/06 - 1/4/07

"Autumn Passages" A video documenting Wellman's
residency and public art commission at the NC A&T State University
Greensboro in 2005 is a featured short in the2nd Annual Heritage
Film & Video Festival, March 31th 2007 Prince George's Community College's Rennie Forum, Largo Md